Korea won the gold medal in a controversial final of the men’s team tournament, beating Indonesia 3-1 in a tie marred by a two-hour long walkout by the Thomas Cup holders.

The flashpoint happened during the first match of the tie when Indonesia’s Taufik Hidayat picked up his bags and stormed off the court.

Desperate to avoid declaring the match, and even the entire final, a walkover for Korea, Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) officials entered into lengthy negotiations to try and complete the tie.

Eventually a face-saving compromise was reached, in direct contradiction to IBF regulations, in which the line-judges remained but with the umpires allowed to overrule their decisions.

“Because of the significance and importance of this competition we had to make an exception,” explained Datuk Punch Gunalan, the General Secretary of ABC and an IBF vice-president.

“We knew the problem of using linesmen from the host country existed. It has never happened to this extent, but we have let it flow. Now it has blown up in front of thousands, millions of people and this a virtually a world championship.”

The decision to continue brought an angry response from the Korean head coach Kim Jong-soo, worried about the effect it would have on future tournaments.

“This game should have been called a victory for Korea. This is not a good precedent to set,” he said.

One game down and trailing 9-12 in the second against Korea’s world number seven Shon Seung-mo, Taufik slammed his racquet to the floor after his smash was ruled out and, while one member of the Indonesian delegation was taking off the linesman Kim Chang-lee’s spectacles, he walked out of the main arena.

“I think it’s better to stop. It’s useless to complete the game. It’s not fair. I don’t want to play,” the world number 14 declared as controversy stormed around him.

“There were three dubious calls in the first set and two more in the second, but always on the critical points, only on the critical points,” raged Chaerul Tanjung, the president of the Indonesian badminton association, PBSI.

Taufik returned to the arena after 45 minutes, but then a further hour and fifteen minutes were spent with the match referees shuttling between officials from both countries trying to find a compromise over the line-judges.

“If the Korean target is just to take the gold medal, then OK we will give it to them. We are very glad to give it to them. Write that down and underline it,” Chaerul instructed reporters as the debate raged.

When the game eventually recommenced Taufik claimed the second game, but there was further controversy over another line-call at 10-13 in the third, which sparked a shower of plastic bottles thrown by a group of around 50 Indonesian fans, needed the intervention of a dozen policemen and resulted in an historic overrule from the chair.

Shon, however recovered his composure and triumphed 15-13, 13-15 and 17-16 in a tense finale.

“It was very difficult to wait for so long. I was on top, but the long delay was a big problem,” he said afterwards. “When I lost the second game I was still thinking about the incident. I was upset and I was continuously thinking about what happened so I lost my control. I have never experienced anything like it. If the game was being held in Indonesia they would have had a similar advantage.”

Lee Hyun-il, the world number 13 and 2002 Japanwinner, had no such problems in the second single match, inflicting a third consecutive defeat in the tournament on Rony Agustinus. Ranked 25th in the world, Rony had already been beaten by China’s Xia Xuanze in the semi-final and by Anuphap Theeraratsakul of Thailand in the first round.

He succumbed 15-3, 15-5 to Lee, in a match where’s the line-calls were made by four of the other umpires at the tournament, who said he was motivated by the fracas.

“The controversy gave me the energy to win. I’d never seen anything like it. It’s not a good thing. I had felt tired and nervous during the wait, but once I got on court I got things under control.”

With a 2-0 lead Korea turned the tie over to their doubles pairs, who in theory held a distinct advantage over the Indonesians. Logic, however, seemed to have little influence on the final and the world number three pairing Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung found themselves in trouble against Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto. A game down and facing match point at 14-4 in the second, the Koreans pulled six points back before going down 15-12, 15-10.

However, unpredictable as the final was, it would have taken a shock of seismic proportions for the second doubles not to go in the favour of the near-invincible world silver medallists Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon, who went on a remarkable winning streak between March and August when they claimed the All England, Korea and Chinese Taipei titles, and were runners-up at the Singaporein August.

As expected the Koreans proved too strong for Halim Haryanto and Tri Kusharjanto, winning 15-3, 15-6 to claim the gold medal for their country.

MEN'S TEAM FINAL:

Korea beat Indonesia 3-1

Shon Seung-mo (KOR) beat Taufik Hidayat (INA) 15-13, 13-15, 17-16
Lee Hyun-il (KOR) beat Rony Agustinus (INA) 15-3, 15-5
Candra Wijaya & Sigit Budiarto (INA) beat Lee Dong-soo & Yoo Yong-sung (KOR) 15-12, 15-10
Ha Tae-kwon & Kim Dong-moon (KOR) beat Halim Haryanto & Tri Kusharjanto (INA) 15-3, 15-6

report by Tim Maitland, Busan